(A/N: Additional chapters are on patreon.com/TheGreatestHunter, since I've now started writing this one once again.)
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The crisis had passed and there was no work left to be done...is what our MC would like to say, but as he sat there, on Rosalie's lap, slurping his drink through a straw, he knew that he was just getting started, but luckily the list of matters that required his immediate attention were few.
One of them, the wolves, would be handled the next time they met.
Originally, in his mind he wanted Carlisle to suggest they meet the very next day.
However, now that it was the next day, he had no real interest in meeting them to discuss any terms this early.
In truth, the longer he sat there, drinking his delicious meal that came straight from a blood bag that was supplied by what would certainly have to be a healthy human to taste that good, he found himself losing most of his interest in the wolves.
Sure, they had a great fighting force, and could provide numbers and an element of surprise should a war break out, but the question was, was he really going to let a war break out.
Would he truly allow things to progress as they did in the movies?
Just go on with his life until the Volturi found a reason to amass their army and knock on his door to take what was his?
The answers were, no.
And the wolves? Yes, they could strike enemies before they knew what hit them. And yes, they could provoke fear simply with their presence and numbers to any stragglers or a large force. And yes, their speed was enviable compared to many vampires.
However, as he sat there, he began to realize that, should he allow his enemy to get so close to him that he required the wolves to truly amass their forces and go to battle, then he must have done something wrong along the way.
Now, that does not mean that he would not still use them.
It's just that the need that he felt to get them under his command immediately had already faded and was replaced with a simple desire, and that was to get to know the young wild woman that was sure to become a companion of his for the long run.
With her involvement in his life, the wolves would have no choice but to fall in should the need demand, or should he or Leah find themselves facing enemies and needed them to act...or if he simply wanted to place them in their human forms in a place and tell them to go wild as they transformed into the wolf and launched surprise attacks, however like he said, he hardly saw that as much of a favorable option.
Especially since it would show one of the cards that he would like to keep hidden unless necessary.
Despite their wet dog smell, their ability to blend in and then strike was one that was too good to waste unless dealing a lethal blow to his enemies.
With that reasoned out in his mind, he proceeded to focus once more his full attention on the matter at hand.
His growth.
The more he took in, the more he could put out.
And since all his body required to grow was life essence or energy, he found himself supplying his body with all it needed to push itself forward on the timetable that is adolescence.
Already physically, his body looked like a three year old.
At the end of his meal, he believed he could add another year, and eventually, he would be able to start strengthening his physique, along with growing, and when that happened, he was curious as to the gains he could produce.
Would he be steadily putting out PRs after PRs? Or would he need to get down and dirty and work his body to the limits in order to get his strength to where he wanted it to be?
If he could do it with his mind and a steady energy intake, like an advanced version of Life Return from One Piece, then he would definitely do that, because no matter how advanced a workout is, it could never compare to the full body strengthening that comes with simply mentally allowing ones body to enhance itself to the limits over and over again....and it would also be far more efficient...and maybe a little easier.
He reasoned that as long as he enveloped every cell of his body with psychic energy and then just focused on transferring that essence he received into purely strengthening each and every aspect of himself, then it could more than likely be done.
The only problem was, he knew that certain parts of the body would require more work than others, and was worried that he would not know when enough was enough, since he wasn't sure how the feedback would work when he began.
After all, when he does it to let himself grow up and glow up, he simply lets nature run its course, only with a little fast forwarding. But him enhancing himself, that will be something not only different, but far more intricate.
As things stand, only time will tell.
As he tasted the last remnants of the divine liquid as it slid down his throat and straight into every single part of his body, he couldn't help but let out a satisfied hum.
It had truly been too long since he just did something solely for himself.
Even when he was building himself up in his past life, he was still gaining allies, enemies, and marking off others that crossed his path, that he never truly felt like he was truly doing anything for his self.
It was always to gain this from someone or to take that from another.
However, this, act of just sitting still, drinking blood, and letting his body be nourished by the elixir of life, felt like it was truly an action that was purely self-fulfilling.
Like masturbating.
Purely for his own gratification.
As he felt that sense of satisfaction course through him, he reasoned that he should try to do more of that in his life.
After all, in this life, he was already born into power, no matter how much the Cullens ran from it, and pretended otherwise. They had power.
And since he was now Cullen.
He had power...in pretty much every form.
Economical, social, personal.
He was powerful.
There was no real need to focus solely on gaining anything from anyone. On proving anything to anyone. On proving anything to himself.
He had already done it all.
Died.
And now, he was born with a silver spoon that far outshone any he could have hoped to gain in his past life, because now it came with not only immortality, but lethality.
What could be better?
Edward talking about souls this and damned that.
Give. Your. Balls. A. Tug.
He was a spoiled brat who, hopefully, is fighting his demons and growing as a person inside his own mind.
Because only a fool would not be able to see that, as far as the lottery of life goes, apex predator is pretty much winning.
From there one can go anywhere. Do anything. And become whatever they want.
Only the weak, poor, or stupid, lack the option of choice.
Apex predators, choose.
He could feel his body getting just a little bit taller, a little bit stronger, and a little bit better.
He knew it would not be long before he was going out on hunts of his own, and fuck all if he was not looking forward to it.
Now, the only question was, how old would his physical body be when Bella wakes up in two days and how long would it take for Edward to break himself free?
Also, where the fuck is Leah.
In truth, he expected her to show up first thing in the morning, more than likely alone, and with the intention of explaining just why she would be pulling a Jacob and latching on to the super baby, which if we're being honest is a far better option for obsessing over than Kristen Stewart.
Give your balls a tug, Robert Pattison.
Super baby is always the g.o.a.t.
Obsess over him, ya pansy.
Or so our MC would say.
(On the reservation)
"What the fuck do you mean I can't go see him?" A beautiful brown-skinned girl dressed in cut-off shorts and a tank-top demands to know from the group of people that block her path to the one that calls to her.
The one in the front of the group raises his hands and tries to speak in a reassuring, disarming manner, as he sees the young woman's lips pull back to show her sparkly white teeth and a low growl begin to escape her throat.
"Now calm down, Leah," he says. His voice deep and commanding. "This needs to be discussed with the council and then we can decide what to do going forward. It's too dangerous for you to go there now. You saw the state of their leader. There's no telling what they will do to you if you show up in their territory." He reasons, making a lot of sense.
But who gives a shit about logic, this is a matter of the soul and super baby always comes first!
"I will handle that, myself. Now, move." She states in a tone of finality. Her voice low and her words piercing through the crowd just as her eyes do. She had made her decision.
Not that she could be blamed.
How many times has Jacob trotted his ass over to their territory because he had a crush on a girl? Now, when it was a matter that involved something far more substantial, far more important than his infatuation, they say no?
Leah could feel her mind descending to a point of no return and she was becoming less and less interested in stopping it.
She had never really felt like she belonged, and now that she knew she had a place to call home, which was by the side of someone that they seek to separate her from, she wasn't having it, because at the end of the day, she knew no matter how logical his reasons sounded, Sam and the majority of the pack were far more interested in making sure that they could maintain a strong front in front of the Cullens, and her going to them and telling them the truth of her situation would mean that all their bravado would go out the window.
After all, despite her finding her imprint, the first thing that they collectively asked each other was, how do we fight them now.
Well, if they didn't give a shit about her heart, why should she give a shit about their position of strength?
The war was over for her.
Now, the only question was, would they move out of her way, or would she move them.
"Let her go."
The answer was provided by a voice filled with both age and wisdom, as a wheel-chaired man came rolling in from the side.
And with his voice as her endorsement, she took action, which simply meant that she ran straight through the group that stood opposite her and took off into the forest.
She didn't know what she was going to do, but she did know where she wanted to be.